There’s plenty of misinformation and concern mongering on the market on causes to not feed your canine a uncooked food regimen. I assumed I’d write about a few of these to indicate you that feeding a uncooked food regimen just isn’t good, however it is usually not harmful.

My two canines have appeared to do nicely on a uncooked food regimen. Feeding your individual canine a uncooked food regimen is a good choice to think about, however it’s not for everybody.

Use this info as yet another piece to your ongoing analysis and do what’s greatest for you and your distinctive canine.

Causes to not feed your canine a uncooked food regimen

Most of those usually are not laborious causes to not feed your canine a uncooked food regimen. As an alternative, they’re limitations or small dangers that you need to find out about.

1. It prices so much to feed a business uncooked pet food food regimen

It’s much more costly to feed your canine a high quality uncooked pet food food regimen vs a dry pet food. 

The bigger your canine or the extra your canine eats, the extra vital the price distinction will probably be. The identical is true when you’ve got a number of canines.

To provide you an concept, it prices me about $390 per 30 days to feed one of my 65-pound canines any of the business uncooked pet food diets. Or about $13 per day. Most of us can’t afford this for the long run. In the event you can, nice!

By comparability, it prices me about $80 to feed the identical canine a higher-end dry pet food per 30 days. That is about $2.70 per day.

If in case you have a smaller canine, then the price of feeding a business uncooked food regimen just isn’t as outrageous and makes extra sense for the common particular person. 

Every of my two canines have to eat about 2 kilos of uncooked meals per day. After they eat dry meals, they every get about 4 cups per day.

Instance value of uncooked pet food per 30 days

A pattern uncooked pet food firm prices $6.50 per pound of uncooked meals. 

So, for considered one of my canines that’s $6.50/lb x 2lb/day = $13 per day. 

For 30 days, that finally ends up being about $390 per 30 days ($13 x 30 days = $390).

The fee remains to be about the identical even if you happen to feed a dehydrated or freeze-dried uncooked model. I appeared into these choices pondering I’d be capable to avoid wasting cash and was dissatisfied. 

Price of selfmade uncooked pet food

The price of making your individual uncooked pet food can fluctuate enormously. 

In my expertise with three totally different raw-fed canines, I used to be capable of lower the price of business uncooked meals in half by feeding a selfmade food regimen. 

I don’t feed a selfmade uncooked food regimen anymore as a result of I didn’t benefit from the course of. It was anxious for me and plenty of work. Some folks benefit from the course of.

I’d purchase meat in as massive of portions as I may justify and blend in my very own fruits and veggies.

So in my case, it could value about $200 per 30 days to feed one 65-pound canine. That is about half the price of a business uncooked model and about twice as a lot as a dry pet food model.

Some individuals are capable of get the price of a selfmade uncooked pet food down considerably by:

• becoming a member of a uncooked pet food co-op
• shopping for meat in huge portions (corresponding to shopping for a butchered cow)
• looking huge recreation like elk 
• having connections with ranchers or hunters

See our articles:

2. Causes to not feed a uncooked food regimen – Do-it-yourself uncooked pet food just isn’t nutritionally balanced

This argument can go both means. 

After all, you do not need to feed your canine a selfmade food regimen that’s not nutritionally balanced. For that reason, some vets will say it’s harmful or irresponsible to feed your canine selfmade meals.

I believe veterinarians are proper on this. Most individuals who feed their canines a selfmade uncooked food regimen are in all probability not feeding sufficient number of meat and organ meat or the optimum quantity of uncooked bones. It’s not simple to search out organ meat, and it’s not apparent what proportion of bone is in every lower of meat.

Then again, no food regimen goes to be good. The widespread “equation” uncooked feeders attempt to observe is 80% muscle meat, 10% organ meat and 10% bone over time – not essentially each meal.

If you are able to do that and attempt to combine up the sorts of muscle meat and organ meat your canine eats, your canine will in all probability be simply positive. Right here is an article we wrote on the place to search out organ meat to your canine.

There are additionally high-quality dietary supplements for canines out there as of late to assist stability out a selfmade uncooked food regimen.

3. Difficult throughout journey

One more reason to not feed your canine a uncooked food regimen is if you happen to journey so much.

Touring with raw-fed canines is doable however it takes just a little extra planning as a result of you need to pack a cooler and ice to maintain the meals contemporary. 

This isn’t an enormous deal, however nonetheless one thing to think about. After I took my canine Remy on a number of lengthy highway journeys in the summertime I all the time needed to haul the cooler as much as my lodge room at evening because it was so sizzling out I didn’t wish to go away it within the automobile.

The cooler additionally takes up additional house in your car. And, when you attain your vacation spot you’ll nonetheless have to retailer the meat someplace – whether or not it’s in your cooler or somebody’s fridge or freezer.

I additionally took Remy tenting and needed to haul alongside a cooler for his meals and ensure it stayed chilly sufficient. These items are doable however inconvenient in comparison with feeding dry meals.

In the event you board your canines, not all boarding kennels are prepared to feed uncooked diets. I’ve been fortunate to have a boarding kennel that’s prepared to feed my canines uncooked meals.

See our article: Feeding a canine uncooked meals whereas touring

4. Uncooked pet food takes up extra cupboard space

Two weeks value of uncooked pet food can take up fairly a little bit of house in your freezer or fridge. 

To provide you an concept, 20 kilos of uncooked meals for my canines takes up about the identical quantity of house as two one-gallon milk jugs. This can feed considered one of my 65-pound canines for 10 days.

If you wish to retailer greater than that, you would possibly want an additional freezer simply to your pet food. 

5. Canines get sick from totally different meals

Regardless of what some vets inform you, it’s unlikely {that a} canine will get sick from the micro organism in uncooked meat. It is because a canine’s digestive system is designed for consuming uncooked meat!

Nonetheless, plenty of canines do get sick from all of the sudden switching from one kind of meals to a different. So, if you happen to all of the sudden swap your canine from a dry meals to uncooked meals, he would possibly get a nasty upset abdomen for a number of days. 

It is dependent upon the canine, however my canines have all the time accomplished higher after I progressively swap them from dry meals to uncooked meals by slowly mixing the 2 over per week.. 

That is no totally different than while you’re switching a canine from one dry model to a different. It’s normally greatest to combine the 2 over a number of days to assist them regulate to the change.

See our article:

Will my canine get sick from uncooked meat?

There’s simply extra cleanup to take care of while you’re feeding a uncooked food regimen. 

• It is best to wash the canine bowls recurrently.
• Pre-made uncooked meals will are available in wrapping you’ll should throw away every time. It normally has blood on it and typically these leak and also you’ll should wipe out your fridge.
• In the event you’re making uncooked meals, you’ll have knives, reducing boards and storage containers to scrub.
• You’ll wish to wash your individual palms afterwards.

I’m not saying any of it is a huge deal. Simply that it takes additional time and never everybody has the time or power to fret about additional duties like this in relation to feeding the canine.

7. A canine may crack a tooth on a uncooked bone.

A canine may crack a tooth whereas chewing any kind of laborious chew, whether or not it’s a uncooked bone, a cooked bone, an antler or numerous canine chew toys corresponding to Nylabones.

Uncooked bones are literally one of many safer issues for many canines to chew as a result of uncooked bones are softer than cooked bones. 

The smaller the bone, the better it’s for a canine to chew. 

In the event you follow softer, smaller bones like poultry bones, your canine needs to be simply positive and you shouldn’t have to fret about him cracking a tooth. Canines will simply crunch up and swallow poultry bones, they usually normally digest these small bones simply positive. Simply ensure you give your canine uncooked bones, not cooked bones.

Bigger uncooked bones corresponding to beef soup bones or beef knuckle bones are the uncooked bones you wish to be extra cautious with. There’s a small threat that your canine may crack a tooth on these bigger bones.

Some canines will take pleasure in chewing on beef bones for a very long time and never have any points – the identical means a canine would chew on a Nylabone or an antler. However some canines are very laborious chewers and will chunk the bone good and find yourself fracturing a tooth. 

So, it helps to know your canine’s chewing fashion – when you’ve got extra of a “laborious chewer” like my weimaraner, you may not wish to give him any uncooked beef bones. 

8. Low likelihood of an intestinal blockage

The possibility of a uncooked bone inflicting an intestinal blockage in a canine could be very low. Some vets like to make use of concern mongering although. It is because most vets shouldn’t have plenty of expertise or coaching with uncooked diets.

So long as you might be feeding your canine smaller, softer uncooked bones corresponding to hen thighs or hen quarters, he’ll chomp them up a bit and be capable to digest them simply positive.

Canines have very environment friendly digestive programs, and they’re designed for consuming uncooked meat and uncooked bones. In the event that they swallow one thing they’re having hassle digesting, they are going to usually regurgitate it after which re-eat it! Disgusting, I do know, however environment friendly! 

If a canine has a blockage, it’s extra possible from swallowing cooked bones or non-edible items of toys like Nylabones. Nonetheless, there’s a small likelihood one thing like a big chunk of a uncooked beef bone may trigger a blockage.

9. Low likelihood of choking on the uncooked bones

Generally, the possibility of a canine choking on a uncooked bone can be very low. Canines are fairly good at self regulating and can chomp one thing up earlier than swallowing. They’re additionally good at digesting uncooked bones.

I bear in mind I used to be nervous the primary time I gave my canine Ace a uncooked hen thigh. He just about swallowed the thigh complete with simply two or three chomps and down the hatch it went inside 5 seconds! I quickly realized that that is regular and completely positive.

Typically, you wish to feed the canine chunks of meat and bone that he must at the least chomp on just a little earlier than swallowing. 

So, for my Lab-sized canines hen thighs are an excellent choice however hen wings are fairly small for them. For a smaller canine, both a hen wing or a thigh can be simply positive.

One other trick you should utilize is to feed the meals barely frozen. That makes it tougher for the canine to swallow and they’ll typically chomp on it a bit earlier than swallowing.

10. Causes to not feed a uncooked food regimen – most vets usually are not supportive of uncooked diets

Sadly, most vets usually are not educated or supportive about feeding a uncooked food regimen. Nonetheless, as increasingly more canine house owners are feeding uncooked, extra vets are studying about uncooked diets and getting on board.

If it’s essential to you to have sincere discussions together with your vet about feeding a uncooked food regimen, you might need to analysis totally different vets in your space till you discover a good match. I’m fortunate to have a number of veterinarians in our space, however I do know that some folks have restricted choices.

I hope this info will enable you perceive that feeding your canine a uncooked food regimen is a good choice, however there are actually causes to not feed your canine a uncooked food regimen. It doesn’t come and not using a few challenges, however uncooked diets are a wholesome choice for many canines.

Within the feedback, tell us when you’ve got any questions!