Diamond naturals recall

[Rugers-Kris]

Raw? Interesting. I would have thought that feeding them raw meat would be a bad thing.I guess I really am a newbie!! LOL So, is this just raw meat you are buying at the grociery store? I am not trying to offend anyone but it seems wrong to "force" a dog to eat something or to allow them to near starve and eat in disgust. I have never owned Mastiffs but I owned my two PitBulls for 15 years and can't imagine ever forcing anything on them unless of course it was a neccessary medicine of some sort. Is this common practice?

 

[Marrowshard]

We switched our old BM to a raw-ish diet when we had her and although she didn't have to be forced, it did take her a while to work her brain around eating a large hunk of meat instead of small bites (as a treat) or her old kibble. We had to start like chuckorlando did: crushing the bones or straight-up removing them. At first Ebony turned up her nose but we got in the habit of cracking a raw egg over the whole mess (raw chicken or fish with baked sweet potato) and that helped whet her appetite. After a while, she got used to it and really looked forward to her "people-food" style meals.
The issue is when you take a dog who's known nothing but kibble and try to feed them raw meat. It's new and weird and they sometimes don't seem to be sure if it's really food or not but after some time - and occasionally "tough love" in not giving them any other option - they get the hang of it.

As to where we get the meat, it varies. My husband hunts and we raise our own beef, so that helps. Chicken's also pretty cheap especially if you can get it at Aldi's or WalMart or something. I know at the WM here, we can get a giant 10-lb bag of chicken parts (thighs and backs) for a few bucks. We added sweet potatoes to Ebony's diet and they're pretty cheap. A lot of the time you can hit up a butcher for hearts, tripe, kidneys, etc. on the cheap too. Fish was a nice treat to break the daily monotony: we either used raw smelt from the freezer or bought canned mackeral or herring. Smells horrific, but the fish oils really helped the poor girl's allergic skin and dandruff.

Guess what I'm trying to say is: there's a lot of options out there and everyone's got a different "way" they do raw. It comes down to whatever is nutritionally balanced and feasible. Sometimes it's easier to get one meat than another (like on Sundays, when grocers discount nearly-expired meat) and of course people are split on whether to add a veggie or not.

It's a bit more effort to do the raw thing, but in the long run it can be a lot cheaper plus (TMI warning), it makes their poops smaller and less smelly; there's not as much "filler" going through.

~Marrow

 

[Smart_Family]

I'm feeding Natural Balance,,anyone heard anything bad about it?

Natural balance is another made by Diamond unfortunately.

---------- Post added at 11:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 PM ----------

Update to the Diamond Recall http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/ar...spends-delivery-of-all-brands-made-in-sc.html

 

[Smart_Family]

Update to the Diamond Recall http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/ar...spends-delivery-of-all-brands-made-in-sc.html

 

[Jeri]

I haven't found anywhere that says Natural Balance is made in the SC plant. And there is no notice to pull Natural Balance, so I'm thinking I should be ok on this.

 

[Chuma]

Raw? Interesting. I would have thought that feeding them raw meat would be a bad thing.I guess I really am a newbie!! LOL So, is this just raw meat you are buying at the grociery store? I am not trying to offend anyone but it seems wrong to "force" a dog to eat something or to allow them to near starve and eat in disgust. I have never owned Mastiffs but I owned my two PitBulls for 15 years and can't imagine ever forcing anything on them unless of course it was a neccessary medicine of some sort. Is this common practice?

Wrong? No. What would be wrong is continue to feed her low grade kibble after knowing it is horrible for her. I can not afford high grade grain free kibble for a 95lb rottweiler(and now boerboel) and the raw diet is in my price range and healthier anyways. She has horrible allergies to grains and to allow her to continue to be extremely itchy would be "wrong". She is a rescue, she knew nothing other than cheap kibble and to allow her to get her way and eat only junky kibble just because thats what she likes would be wrong.
She now LOVES her raw food. She got over her disgust and willingly eats.

It's like in kids... Kids loves sweets and hate veggies. Just because they don't like veggies doesn't mean you wont make them eat them right? You aren't going to just allow them to eat fruit loops because thats what they like right? I believe in tough love and find it more cruel to allow dogs/kids to get their way when in the end it will just hurt them.

I get my meat from a restaurant supply store. The chicken is better quality and cheaper than at the grocery store. The chicken at the restaurant supply store only contains 2% retained water where as at kroger/walmart/est contains up to 15% water solution. Livers come from the regular grocery store, I will also pick up other meats on clearance to add different proteins but the chicken is the main part of the diet.
Also meat isn't the only part of a raw diet.. There are bones and organs as well. I've started to add veggies but all that has done is make her gassy which isn't a good thing for a dog that goes everywhere with me.